An Egyptian baby who had surgery last month to remove the attached head of an underdeveloped twin came out of intensive care on Wednesday, one of her doctors said.
Eleven-month-old Manar Maged was born with craniopagus parasiticus, a very rare condition which left her attached by the skull to the head of her underdeveloped twin.
“She will stay in the higher dependency unit for four days under observation,” said Abla el-Alfy, consultant in paediatric intensive care at Benha Children’s Hospital north of Cairo.
Alfy told Reuters that over the coming four days doctors would try to reduce Manar’s anti-convulsion medication and test her swallowing. “Once we are sure that she is capable of swallowing, her mother will be in contact with her and feed her naturally,” said Alfy.
“Currently her heartbeat, kidneys and reflex actions are all normal ... Overall she is doing very well,” she added.
Craniopagus parasiticus occurs when an embryo begins to split into identical twins but does not complete the process. One of the conjoined twins then fails to develop fully.
Manar’s twin could blink and smile but was not capable of independent life.
Doctors have said Manar’s case is extremely rare and her survival of the operation is a big achievement.
